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Text B Brave New World(第1页)

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TextBBraveNewWorld

—fromBraveNewter1)

AldousHuxley

Asquatgreybuildingofonlythirty-fourstories。Overthemaihewords,TRALLONDONHATDIRE,and,iheWorldState’smotto,UABILITY。

Theenormousroomonthegroundfloorfacedtowardsthenorth。Coldforallthesummerbeyondthepanes,forallthetropicalheatoftheroomitself,aharshthinlightglaredthroughthewindows,hungrilyseekingsomedrapedlayfigure,somepallidshapeofacademicgoose-flesh,butfindingonlytheglassandnidbleaklyshiningporofalaboratory。Wintriowiheoverallsofthehite,theirhahapalecorpse-colouredrubber。Thelightwasfrozen,dead,aghost。Onlyfromtheyellowbarrelsofthemicroscopesdiditborrowaridlivingsubstangalongthepolishedtubeslikebutter,streakafterlusciousstreakinlongredowables。

“Andthis,”saidtheDireingthedoor,“istheFertilizingRoom。”

&heirihreehuilizerswerepluheDirectorofHatdiheroom,inthescarcelybreathiheabsent-minded,soliloquizinghumorwhistle,ofabsorbedtration。Atroopofnewlyarrivedstudents,veryyoung,pinkandcallow,followednervously,ratherabjectly,attheDirector’sheels。Eacarriedanotebook,inwhieverthegreatmanspoke,hedesperatelyscribbled。Straightfromthehorse’smouth。Itrivilege。TheD。H。tralLondonalointofpersonallyghissroundthevariousdepartments。

“Justtogiveyouageneralidea,”hewouldexplaintothem。Forofeseheymusthave,iftheyweretodotheirworkihoughaslittleofoobegoodandhappymembersofsociety,aspossible。Forparticulars,aseveryonekueandhappiiesareiuallynecessaryevils。Notphilosophersbutfret-saposethebaeofsociety。

“To-morrow,”hewouldadd,smilihaslightlymey,“you’llbesettlingdowntoseriouswork。Youwoimefeies。Meanwhile。。。”

Mearivilege。Straightfromthehorse’smouthiebook。Theboysscribbledlikemad。

Tallahinbutupright,theDire。Hehadalongdbigratherpromicovered,whetalking,byhisfull,floridlycurvedlips。Old,young?Thirty?Fifty?Fifty-five?Itwashardtosay。Andaiondidhisyearofstability,A。F。632,itdidn’toccurtoyoutoaskit。

“Ishallbeginatthebeginning,”saidtheD。H。dthemorezealousstudentsrecordedhisiioebooks:Beginatthebeginning。“These,”hewavedhishaheincubators。”Andopeninganinsulateddoorheshowedthemraraberedtest-tubes。“Theweek’ssupplyofova。Kept,”heexplaibloodheat;whereasthemalegametes,”andhereheopeherdoor,“theyhavetobekeptatthirty-fiveihirty-seven。Fullbloodheatsterilizes。”Ramsedintheremogenolambs。

Stillleaningagaiavethem,whilethepencilsscurriedillegiblyacrossthepages,abriefdesprocess;spokefirst,ofcourse,itrodu—“theoperatioarilyfoodofSoehatitcarriesabonusamountingtosixmonths’salary”;uedwithsomeatoftheteiqueftheexcisedovaryaliveandactivelydevelopioasiderationofoptimumtemperature,salinity,viscosity;referredtotheliquorinwhichthedetadripenedeggswerekept;and,leadinghischargestotheworktables,actuallyshowedthemhowthisliquorwasdrawnofffromthetest-tubes;howitwasletoutdropbydropontothespeciallywarmedslidesofthemicroscopes;howtheeggswhitaiedforabedaoaporousreceptacle;how(aookthemtowatchtheoperatioaclewasimmersedinawarmbouillongfree-swimmiozoa—ataminimumtrationofohousandpertimetre,heinsisted;andhow,afterteheerwasliftedoutoftheliquoranditstsre-examined;how,ifanyoftheeggsremaiilized,itwasagainimmersed,and,ifnecessary,yetagaiilizedovawentbacktotheincubators;wheretheAlphasaasremaiildefiled;whiletheGammas,DeltasandEpsilhtoutagaihirty-sixhours,toBokanovsky’sProcess。

“Bokanovsky’sProcess,”repeatedtheDiredthestudehewordsilenotebooks。

Oneegg,oneembryo,o-normality。Butabokanovskifiedeggwillbud,willproliferate,willdivide。Fromeighttoy-sixbuds,andeverybudwillgroerfebryo,aoafull-sizedadult。Makiy-sixhumanbeingsgrowwhereonlyonegrewbefress。

&ially,”theD。H。cluded,“bokanovskifisistsofaseriesofarrestsofdevelopmehenroaradoxiough,theeggrespondsbybudding。”

Respondsbybudding。Thepencilswerebusy。

&ed。Onaveryslowlymovingbandarack-fulloftest-tubeswasenterialbox,another,rack-fullwasemergilypurred。Ittookeightmihetubesth,hetoldthem。EightminutesofhardX-raysbeingaboutasmueggd。Afewdied;oftherest,theleastsusceptibledividedintotwo;mostputoutfourbuds;someeight;allwerereturors,wherethebudsbegahewodays,weresuddenlychilled,dchecked。Twht,thebudsiurnbudded;andhavingbuddedweredosedalmosttodeathwithalsequentlyburgeonedagainandhaviofbudoutofbud—werethereafter—furtherarrestbeial—lefttodevelopinpeace。Bywhichtimethegwasinafairwaytobeinganythioy-sixembryiousimprovement,youwillagree,ois—butnotinpiddlingtwosaheoldviviparousdays,whenaneggwouldsometimesatallydivide;actuallybydozens,byscoresatatime。

“Scores,”theDirectorrepeatedandflungouthisarms,asthoughheweredistributinglargesse。“Scores。”

Butoswasfoolenoughtoaskwheretheadvantagelay。

“Mygoodboy!”TheDirectorwheeledsharplyroundonhim。“’tyousee?’tyousee?”Heraisedahand;hisexpressionwassolemn。“Bokanovsky’sProeofthemajorisofsocialstability!”

Majorisofsocialstability。

Standardmenandwomen;inuniformbatches。Thewholeofasmallfactorystaffedwiththeproductsofasinglebokanovskifiedegg。

&y-sixidentiswy-sixidenties!”Thevoicewasalmosttremulouswithenthusiasm。“Youreallyknowwhereyouare。Forthefirsttimeinhistory。”Hequotedtheplao。“uability。”Grandwords。“Ifwecouldbokanovskifyihewholeproblemwouldbesolved。”

&andardGammas,unvaryias,uniformEpsilons。Milliowins。Theprinassproduatlastappliedtobiology。

“But,alas,”theDirectorshookhishead,“we’tbokanovskifyiely。”

&y-sixseemedtobethelimit;seventy-twoage。Fromthesameovaryandwithgametesofthesamemaletomanufactureasmanybatchesofidentisaspossible—thatwasthebest(sadlyasedbest)thattheycoulddo。Awasdifficult。

“Foriakesthirtyyearsfortwstoreachmaturity。Butourbusiostabilizethepopulationatthismoment,hereandnouttwierofatury—whatwouldbetheuseofthat?”

Obviously,all。ButPodsnap’sTeiquehadimmehepr。Theyakesureofatleastahundredandfiftymatureeggswithiilizeandbokanovskify—inotherwords,multiplybyseventy-two—aanaverageofhousandbrothersandsistersinahundredandfiftybatchesofidentis,allwithihesameage。

“Aionalcaseswemakeoneovaryyieldusoverfifteenthousandadultindividuals。”

&oafair-haired,ruddyyoungmaneobepassi。“Mr。Foster,”hecalled。Theruddyyoungmanapproayoutellustherecleovary,Mr。Foster?”

“Sixteenthousahistre,”Mr。Fosterrepliedwithouthesitation。Hespokeveryquickly,hadavivaciousblueeye,andtookapleasureinquotieenthousandandtwelve;inonehundreday-chesofidenticals。Butofcoursethey’vedoer,”herattledon,“iropitres,Sienproducedoversixteenthousandfivehundred;andMombasahasactuallytouchedthesevehousandmark。Butthentheyhaveunfairadvantages。Youshouldseethewayanegroovaryrespondstopituitary!It’squiteastonishing,whewithEuropeaill,”headded,withalaugh(butthelightofbatwasiheliftofhiswasg),“still,wemeahemifwe。I’mwoa-Minusovaryatthismoment。Oeenmonthsold。Overtwelvethousandsevenhundredalready,eitherdebryo。Andstillg。We’llbeatthemyet。”

“That’sthespiritIlike!”criedtheDiredclappedMr。Fosterontheshoulder。“ealongwithus,aheseboysthebeofyourexpertknowledge。”

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